[BlackElk]

I have been an absolute Yankee fan since Mickey Mantle was a rookie and I was not yet in kindergarten. That having been said, the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry is a special one in sports. My dad was a Red Sox fan from his childhood in the Boston area and regrettably did not live to see the Red Sox two World Series championships in this century and he had been old enough to see them when they won in 1918.

I understand your frustration with Beckett and Crawford (and Lackey and Daisuke??? and others). Beckett may well be done but I doubt Crawford is and Gonzalez certainly is not. You can take the $ and sign a Josh Hamilton this coming winter but Loney at 1B? Rubby De La Rosa?

It is your favorite team but I don't think I make that deal if I were in your shoes. Young Steinbrenner seems committed to having payroll under $189 million by 2014. I really doubt that the Yanks will be signing any big contracts soon. Given that commitment of young Steinbrenner (who, unlike his dad, has the soul of an auditor), we cannot afford what we have.

Such is life under Comrade Selig the redistributionist incompetent running baseball.

[MacMattico]

I have a dog named Jeter with a Yankee collar and my neighbor has a dog named Becket with a Red Sox collar. She hates the Dodgers. Oh well.